Brave Scion
by Ninj4Fox2020
Summary: Luke's friends abandoned him after the destruction of Akzeriuth, with no one to turn to, he decided to leave Aludrant for another world, after a year, he lives his life in what little peace he has, but things don't always stay peaceful for him, especially when his past finds him.
1. A New Journey

Hey everyone, Ninj4Fox here, bringing you all a collaboration fanfiction that has come from the mind of a fellow writer. Ladies and gentlemen I present Fatal-Fame.

**Hello, I'm Fatal-Fame. This is my first collaboration and crossover fanfic. Tell me what you **

**think.**

Brave Scion

A new journey

The sun shined down on the lower quarter of Zaphias, where the fountain in the middle was going out of control. A young boy was running up the stairs of the inn, to get the two that usually helped with these problems.

"Yuri! This is not good." The young boy said as he ran into the room, passing the large dog and the teen lying on the bed to get to the man on the window wearing black.

"What's with all the yelling, Ted?" Yuri asked him as the kid pulled himself onto the windowsill.

"Look! The aque blastia is broken again!" Ted told him as he pointed towards the fountain. "And they just finished fixing it." He finished with a wave of his hand.

"What's the big deal? Just leave it to the mighty Imperial Knights" Yuri told him with slight sarcasm at the end. "That's what they're here for."

"Hah, the Knights?" The kid asked him " You know they never come to the lower quarter." Ted responded.

"He's got ya there, Yuri." The teen on the bed affirmed, causing both Yuri and Ted to turn to him.

"I thought you were asleep." Yuri commented, the teen just turned away from them to face the wall.

"I am, I'm sleep talking." The teen countered with a wave of his hand.

"If you say so." Yuri replied as he got up and walked to the other side of the room. "What about the heroic Flynn?" Yuri asked Ted as he brought his fingers to his chin.

"I already tried to get Flynn." Ted replied as he climbed off the windowsill "They wouldn't even let me see him!"

"Oh, so I'm Flynn's replacement, huh?" Yuri asked with a smile as he walked back towards the window.

"Never mind that, come on!" Ted implored him "We're short on people!"

"Ted! Ted! You get down here! They need your help, too!" A female voice shouted below them.

"I'll...I'll be there in a sec!" Ted replied "Yuri... Come on already!" He implored before running out the door.

"That's weird." Yuri said to himself as he stared out the window. "He always comes running whenever there's trouble."

"He did go for the knights first." The teen replied as he sat up and turned so he was sitting on the bed. Yuri just looked at him for a few seconds before turning back to the window.

"This place is gonna become an aquarium soon if this keeps up." Yuri commented as he grabbed his sword.

"Lower quarter aquarium." The teen mumbled to himself. "We could make a fortune." He quickly moved his head out of the way of Yuri's fist.

"I'm joking, relax." The teen raised his hands in surrender "Jerk."

"Whatever, I'm heading to the aque blastia." Yuri replied as he prepared to jump out the window.

"I'll meet you outside." The teen replied as Yuri jumped out the window. The teen stood up from the bed and grabbed his own blade.

"Well, time to go Repede." The teen said as he gave the dog a scratch behind the ear. They both left through the open door and ran down the stairs to their left. They both turned to see Yuri rising after his jump and ran up to meet him.

"First the trouble with the Knights yesterday. Now the aque blastia breaks..." Yuri said as they walked towards the blastia. "Why does stuff like this happen everyday in the lower quarter?" He asked as he turned his head to the left slightly.

"I dunno, but the only thing we can do about it is fix it." The teen replied as he put his hands behind his head.

"Woof" Repede added as they got closer.

"I know, I know. There is no use whining about it." Yuri replied as they walked to where an old man was.

"We've got to seal it off somehow!" The elder yelled as people tried to block off the water with anything they could grab.

"What's going on? Any sunken treasure down there?" Yuri asked one of the people.

"Yeah, but you're late so I'm not sharing." A guy replied as he kept throwing things in.

"How nice." The teen commented back to him.

"Hey, it's sink or swim in this world." The same guy replied. "It looks like the blue-blooded mage we hired left the job half done." He added with a serious note.

"Glad You could find the time to stop by, Yuri." The old man said as he noticed the dark haired swordsman.

"Take it easy with the water sports, old man." Yuri playfully replied.

"You're not getting any younger." The teen added, catching his attention.

"Oh, you're here too" the old man said as the teen smiled. He adjusted his glasses. "Did your hair become a brighter shade of red?"

"I don't think so." Said the teen as he brought his hand through his low ponytail and let it fall back between his shoulder blades. He then grabbed the strands that fell onto his face and studied them closely. "Nope."

"Well, you're both up next. Not afraid of a little water, I hope." The old man told them.

"Yikes" exclaimed Yuri in a false scared tone.

"Come on now, put your backs into it!" The old man replied as he bent down to help "Heave, ho! Heave…" Both Yuri and the red haired teen proceed to bend down and start blocking the flow.

"Hanks is really going at it." Yuri commented as they worked.

"He feels responsible. He's the one who pushed the people to get the money together for the repairs." The same man yuri talked to earlier replied.

"And now he's the one who's all wet." The red haired teen quipped back as he worked.

"It's not Hank's fault that mage did a two-bit repair job though." Yuri said with a slight growl.

"That's true. He even parted with his wife's keepsake to help raise the money." the man told him. Yuri then walked over to the other side of the blastia fountain. When he got there he noticed that something was missing.

"Hey, Yuri if you're not gonna help out, stand clear! This is dangerous!" Hanks yelled at the young man. Yuri thought for a few more seconds before moving towards Hanks.

"Hanks, did you see the blastia core anywhere?" Yuri asked him. "You know, that shiny piece in the middle."

"Huh? ...Is it gone?" Hanks asked him.

"Yeah. The blastia won't work with the core missing." Yuri explained. "That aristocrat who came to do the repairs was the last person to touch the blastia, right?"

"That's right," Hanks affirmed. "a Mr. Mordio."

"And he lives in the royal quarter?" Yuri asked the elder.

"Yeah. So?" Hanks asked. "Forget about that yuri, give us a hand here!"

"...Sorry Hanks. I just remembered an errand I've gotta run." Yuri said as he walked past him.

"Hey, wait just a minute!" Hanks hollard after him. "You're not seriously thinking of going to Mr. Mordio's place are ya?"

"The royal quarter? Me? I wouldn't be caught dead in a place like that." Yuri replied with a shrug.

"It gives me the creeps."

"Damn it, Yuri… Just because you can do a few tricks with that bodhi blastia. You think you're invincible." Hanks yelled after him , but Yuri was already up the hill. Hanks just shook his head.

"Here's hoping he doesn't do anything crazy…" Hanks said out loud.

"Don't worry." The red headed teen spoke up. "If does something stupid, I'll kick his ass."

Hanks just shook his head again. "I'm sure you will."

Later that night

The teen stared at the ceiling of his room lost in thought.

'Yuri hasn't returned from the royal quarter yet, But repede did.' He mused as he turned his gaze to the dog in his thoughts.

'He probably got himself arrested.' The teen realized 'And Repede didn't have the aque blastia core in that bag.'

'After he gets out we might as well hunt the guy down.' The redhead thought as he closed his eyes. 'Either way, better get some sleep.'

The next day

_Don't make me think any less of you._

_Don't bother, he's not worth it._

_If I stay here, I'll just be irritated by some ridiculous ranting._

_I was stupid for starting to think you had some good in you…_

The red haired teen shot up from his bed and brought his hands to his face.

'Different nightmare, same cause.' he thought as he rubbed his face. A soft whining came from Repede as he walked over to the human's bed. The teen lightly patted his head.

"Sorry if I woke you Repede." The teen whispered. The dog just shook his head, as if saying it was no problem.

"Even after a year I still have nightmares." the red hair said as he stared at his palm. He looked out the window to notice the sun was in the middle of rising.

"Time to get up." He told the dog as he got off the bed. He quickly put on his white undershirt and black pants that were torn up on the knees. As he walked out the door he threw on a black leather jacket and grabbed his Katana, He opened the door and slipped on his red shoes. Only to stop before he walked out.

"Almost forgot." The teen said to himself as he turned to the night stand. He walked up to it and grabbed a small chain with a metal star attached to it. He put it on his neck and walked out to the door.

"Huh some type of commotion at the aque blastia?" The teen asked the dog, to which he barked in reply. They quickly ran towards the crowd and saw what was going on.

"I say, tell us where the criminal Yuri Lowell is." A tall Knight with a pointed mustache said to the citizens.

"Why?" A random person asked them.

"He has escaped from the royal prison." A smaller knight who couldn't fit his helmet on his head.

"Hey look!" The teen yelled out, getting everyone's attention. "It's the pigeon brigade!"

"I say, who said that?" The taller one asked. To which the teen raised his hand.

"Take that back." The smaller one demanded.

"Or what?" The teen asked, already knowing the answer.

"We shall make you, I say." The taller one said as he drew his sword and the smaller one pointed his spear at him. the teen just smiled before he flashed the bodhi blastia on his sheath.

"Bring it on." He said that they both charged him.

"I say, Sonic Thrust." The tall one yelled as he drove his blade forward, while the other smaller one thrusted his spear. Luke simply used his sheath to deflect the attacks.

"He blocked an Imperial Knight arte." The taller one said in surprise. The teen just raised an eyebrow.

"That was an arte?" The redhead asked in a disappointed tone. "No wonder me and Yuri beat you guys." This seemed to spark the knights memories.

"I say, you're Yuri Lowel's sidekick." The taller one said. The teen stared at them for a bit before shrugging.

"Good enough." the teen replied as he went into an Iaijutsu stance and rushed the two with a burst of speed, using his sheath he knocked the smaller knight away and quickly spun and unsheathed his sword as he performed an arte, making sure to turn his sword so he didn't kill the guard.

"Fang Uprising" He yelled out as he pulled the the blade out and slashed him up and back down, knocking him out. re sheathing the blade,the teen then turned to the smaller one, who was preparing to slash him with his spear. The redhead quickly stepped back to dodge the attack. When the spear wielder was off balance the teen uppercutted him with the sheath. The blow sent the smaller male flying back before he hit the ground unconscious.

"That was fun." He said to the unconscious bodies on the floor. He turned to see Yuri and a woman with pink hair and a white dress run past him.

"Hey Yuri, how you been?" The teen asked as they ran towards the lower quarter exit, with some people giving them a map and some items as they passed them, with the girl yelling her thanks back.

"Save the talking for later." Yuri said as they ran past some guards Repede took out.

As soon as they were far enough away from the Capital they took a chance to breath.

"So Yuri." The redhead said as they started to walk. "Who's she?"

"Hello my name Estellise, but please call me Estelle." She told him as she held out her hand, which the teen grabbed and shook.

"This is Repede." He said as he pointed at the dog.

"And I'm Luke." Luke said with a smile. ''Pleased to meet you .''

''Likewise.'' Estelle said as she returned the smile.

''So, where do we go now?, I'm pretty sure that we won't be able to return to the capital for a while.'' Luke asked.

''Well, from what the guy told us, we should head to Deidon Hold, there we should be able lay low for a bit.'' Yuri answered. "The guy who stole the aque blastia should also be there.

Luke shrugged. ''Alright let's go.'' He said. They began walking towards Deidon Hold, all the while one thought was going through Luke's head.

'Looks like it's gonna be one hell of an adventure.'

**And done. Hey guys sorry that it took so long to do this, but with me getting a job I haven't had as much time as I would like in order to do any remakes or updates of the chapters, however I now have some time off so I'm going to get myself to possibly doing a few refurbishing of the few stories and a few updates.**

**for this chapter I decided to redo it, and change Luke's Fighting style, i decided to go with the Iaijutsu style because i have quite a few ideas that i'm going to add in the story.**

**Well the second chapter i going to up soon and i hope you will enjoy it, until next time folks this is Ninj4Fox signing off.**

**Ja Ne!**


	2. Deidon Hold Madness and The Quoi Woods

**Hey folks, This is ninj4 fox here bringing you all a new chapter of Brave Scion.**

**I got to admit, I've never done a collaboration before for as long as I've been a writer, and I gotta admit, it's pretty cool, mixture of ideas coming together to make one story, I'm honestly loving the experience, and I now want to do more collabs with more of you in the future.**

**But for now, I'm going to work on the story.**

**As you all probably know this story is the brainchild of fellow writer, who goes by the name fatal-fame.**

**We both done the first chapter and of course we kept it short and it was something to test orders of bit and see where would take it, and I'm happy to say that it went a little bit better than expected, we got a good few reviews and got a few followers and that we are looking to go to the second chapter here and make it slightly longer. **

**But before we do that let us give you a little bit of our perspective of well how things could have gone on the Tales of the Abyss sorry to make this sound like a rant but there are some things on there that we did not agree with everyone's attitude towards Luke after the fall of Akzeriuth.**

**Honestly what is the fucking deal, I mean seriously people, they should have at least looked beyond the surface of the situation and knew that Luke was molded into the person that he was, it honestly pissed me off for the longest, and it truly made me feel for him despite that fact he had a deplorable spoiled attitude towards everyone, with Ion getting the least of it, but he didn't deserve to be blamed completely by everyone, I'm mean look Luke took a lot of shit because of one person that he absolutely trusted because he was more of a father figure to the redhead, when the Duke couldn't the fucking job of raising him properly.**

**And for the love of god, don't you all dare get me started on Asch! I honestly don't know where to start, honestly, i hated this guy, he always blamed Luke for his bad life, not looking into the fact that that Luke never had a choice in the matter at all. **

**His blatant misdirected hatred of Luke was something that made me absolutely livid with his stupidity, I was really hoping that Asch would be smart enough to know this, and most likely build a friendship with Luke to a certain level that would possibly turn into a brotherhood kind of thing, I understand that that concept has been used too many times, but I really don't care. It's at least better than blaming someone who didn't even fucking know better!...Okay deep breaths….whew.**

**Well anyway, that's why we write Fanfictions, and on this one, you are going to see a much more smarter and headstrong Luke, there are going to be some bashings of a few people of the group later on, some more harsh than others, some quite lenient, but either way Luke is going to get some justice out of this. **

**Well i think i got that out my system now, and I feel a little bit better, so while my mood is doing a 180 back up, let's get this thing started.**

**Fatal-fame here and I'm usually the one who does the long winded rants. But I would say the same thing pretty much. Such as Asch's hate being stupid, how the others should have asked questions and such. **

**Luke will become smarter, stronger, and learn a variety of artes. He will meet with his old team and the reactions will be mixed. The harder parts will be creating weapons and artes for him to use, so feel free to give your own ideas in reviews.**

**Also Luke's first title is "Rebellious teen." "A teen who only answers to those who have his respect."**

Brave Scion

Chapter 2

Deidon Hold Madness &amp; The Quoi Woods

''Regular Talking''

'Inner Thoughts'

The group finally reached Deidon hold after roughly an hour of fighting monsters and avoiding knights who were patrolling the area outside the castle. The entered the city and found even more troops inside the Hold.

''Man, I swear these guys are everywhere.'' Luke said irritated.

''Do you think the knights followed you all the way here?'' Estelle asked.

''I wonder. Well let's do our best not to stand out.'' Yuri said.

''Okay. And I want to catch up with Flynn as soon as I can.'' Estelle responded, causing Luke to frown a bit.

"What does she want with Scifo?" Luke muttered to himself.

''All right, let's see if we can just get past the hold.'' Yuri said, not noticing Estelle wandering off.

He only noticed a second later as he didn't hear the princesses response.

''Where's she off to now?'' Yuri asked with a bit of annoyance.

Luke just pointed towards a merchant who was setting up shop in the Hold. Sure enough he saw Estelle nose deep inside a rather huge book.

Yuri sighed and walked over towards the merchant, Luke following suit, The merchant noticed the two males and smiled.

''Welcome, I've got some nice gear in stock today." The Merchant said as he noticed the two males walk up to his cart.

Yuri picked up one sword pretty impressed, Luke looked through the others.

''I gotta admit, this is some good stuff.'' Luke said as he picked up a smaller sword. The merchant just smiled at them.

"Those weapons were forged by none other than Assam the blademaster." He told them in a awe inspiring tone. "It even comes equipped with weapon skills." He continued, ''No traveler should be without them, feel free to give it a try.

''Huh? What do you mean?'' Yuri asked

''The Special Technique contained in weapons, these techniques were originally passed down from master to pupil….But the Blademaster Assam used a special process to seal them within the weapons themselves. Bodhi Blastia can acquire techniques from weapons imbued with this power, with continued use weapon artes can eventually be learned by the person using the weapon.

Everyone looked at the princess impressed by her knowledge. ''My this young lady knows her stuff, that about sums it up.'' The merchant said.

Estelle smiled at the man's praise. ''I read in a book that the Kritya gave this knowledge to humans long ago.'' She said.

Luke was impressed by the girls intelligents. 'Man, now I kinda wish I didn't slack in my studied back at the Manor, maybe things would have been different if-' Luke shook his head clearing his mind of those haunting memories.

''Huh, I thought Bodhi Blastia only let you use Strike artes and Magic Artes.'' Yuri said to himself more than anyone.

"Well you learn something new everyday.'' Luke said nonchalantly as the merchant continued.

''In order to find the fighting style that meet your needs, it's best to think carefully about weapons skills when choosing your weapon. There are even weapons without weapons skills, that focus on raw attack power. It all depends on your preference.

''I can't imagine business is all that great in a place like this.'' Yuri said.

''Don't get me wrong, i'm not here because i want to be.'' The merchant said as he turned towards the hold doors.

''There are monsters on the far side of the hold, so I'm stuck.'' The Merchant sighed in defeat.

''Monsters huh?'' Yuri asked.

''Oh great, there goes our plan on going through the hold.'' Luke said getting irritated.

Yuri turned towards Estelle. ''Did you hear that?'' He asked, only to find the girl still nose deep with the book.

''hmmm'' Estelle mumbled as she read on.

''And...she not listening'' Yuri said with amusement. Luke snickered a bit. The princess seemed to snap out of it a little by Yuri's voice.

''Huh?, did you say something?'' She asked.

''I said me and Luke are going to go get some information, so wait right here.'' He said.

''Oh, I'll come to.'' Estelle said. she turned to the merchant to give the book back.

''That's all right, go ahead and take it.'' The merchant said.

''Are your sure?'' Estelle asked.

''It's pretty old, and it has some pages missing, but it's yours if you like.'' The merchant answered.

''Th-Thank you very much.'' Estelle said as she closed the book.

''So is that book any good?'' Yuri asked.

''It's fascinating. You can read it as soon as I'm finished.'' Estelle answered.

The Merchant then began to explain the simple basics of applying and equipping the skill to the group.

"To get to where you can equip skills, just focus on your blastia for a bit and a list of the skills you have will come up." He told them as they checked their new weapons. "Also you with the red hair." He said getting Luke's attention. "Your Bodhi Blastia is a bit special."

"How so?" Luke asked him as he brought his sheath up between them.

"Your Bodhi Blastia can scan smaller swords and adjust the sheath to the size of the blade." The man explained with a smile. "It's a special formula that has not been seen for a long time. But there are some limits." The man warned him. "It will only take certain weapons so you can't use all of them. They are usually smaller swords and katana like blades that work." He finished.

Luke nodded at the man "Thanks for the info."

They suddenly heard a loud alarm going off and the panicked yells of the guard near the gate of the hold.

They turned their attention towards the gate to find numerous citizens running inside of the hold, and the guards running to cover their escape.

''Hurry, get inside! The gate's closing!'' A woman yelled.

''Arrows! Bring the arrows!'' One Soldier yelled. Many soldiers rushed to the gate preparing to hold the monsters back in order to make sure the civilians get inside safely.

''Shut the gate now!'' Another guard yelled.

''Dammit! what the hell are they doing here this time of the year?'' One asked.

''The monsters will fall back if we stop the main charge, remember your training!'' The guard commander yelled.

The guard arrows at the charging monsters, however it didn't seem to have much effect.

''Okay, there all in, close it up!'' One guard yelled.

The Guards pulled the lever of the gate and it began to lower, however one female who surveyed the civilians caught a few who were left behind outside the hold.

"Hold the gate, There's still more!'' She yelled to the guards.

Estelle could see outside the hold and was absolutely terrified, as there were a large number of monsters charging the hold at top speed.

"Are all those... monsters…?" Estelle asked dumbfounded.

"We just left the capital and things are already getting crazy…" Yuri said more to himself. Luke just slumped forward a bit.

"It's official. Were cursed.." Luke said as Yuri and Repede ran towards the gate.

The lady on the tower let out a gasp "The gate!" Repede ran up to the man closing the gate and drew his knife distracting the guard.

"Wh-what the hell!" The man yelled in alarm. "Cut it out." This caused the gate to stop closing, allowing Yuri and Luke to run past it.

"Estelle, you wait over-" Yuri started only to notice the girl run past. "Hey!"

"Help the girl." Estelle yelled back as she ran to the man.

''If you say so.'' Yuri said as he and Luke ran towards the girl.

The man spoke as soon as as Estelle reached the injured man.''Please, i can't get up!, Owww! The monster, the monsters!'' The young man yelled in fear.

''Everything is going to be okay.'' Estelle said as she prepared a healing art.

Yuri reached the girl and picked her up and ran back towards the hold, not know that the girl dropped her doll in the process, Luke saw that a few monsters was getting too close and moved to intercept them, he stood there until there were at the right distance, once he felt it was right, he leaned over to the side a little before he became nothing more than a blur, there was a wide arc of a blade that hit the monsters killing the good few that was ahead of the herd, the next second Luke appeared in the same spot where his disappeared from, he turned around and ran back to towards the hold following Yuri.

Estelle finished her arte and healed the man allowing him to stand. ''Hey i can..I can stand!'' He said happily. Estelle stood up.

''Go in the hold hurry!'' She yelled. they both ran back towards the hold, she stopped a second and turned waiting for Yuri and Luke to get back in once inside the little girl noticed her missing doll.

"My doll." Child yelled. "Mama's doll!" Estelle turned around, ready to run back out, only for Yuri to grab her.

''Hey Let go of me!." She told the black haired male, only for Luke to run past both of them.

Luke ran towards the doll, adrenaline flowing through him.

"Just had to be a hero." Luke mumbled to himself as he grabbed the doll.

"Luke!" Estelle yelled out as the red haired teen ran back towards the gate, which was closing fast. Luke pushed his body to the limit, just to get inside of the hold. Right before the gate had closed Luke slid under it. Luke handed the doll back to the little girl before falling flat on his back.

"Well." Luke mumbled "That was terrifying.''

"How can I ever thank you?" The little girl's mother asked them.

"Oh, it's nothing, really…" Estelle replied.

"I'm not sure what I would have done if you hadn't cured me." The man told her. "Thanks!" The crowd around them dispersed, letting the three catch their breath.

"...I'm just thankful that everyone's safe…" Estelle said as she dropped to the ground in exhaustion.

"You said it." Luke replied as he walked over and fell next to her.

"All worn out, huh?" Yuri teased before sitting next to Estelle and Luke.

"It really is dangerous beyond the barriers with so many ferocious monsters around." Estelle observed, to which Luke nodded his agreement.

"This place could use a barrier against a pack that big." Yuri remarked as Repede sat next to him.

"Couldn't they install a barrier blastia here?" Asked estelle as she turned her head slightly.

"Not a chance." Luke replied for his spot on the dirt. "Barriers are a precious resource."

"You're right…" Estelle replied to him "and with the current technology we can't make anymore." She turned her gaze skyward.

"If only we could recover the secrets of the ancient Geraios civilization…" Estelle said "They created the blastia."

"Really? Huh." Luke said.

"Even if that were to happen, I can't see the empire using the knowledge for the common good." Yuri committed to them.

"I guess you're right Yuri." Luke replied as they all stood up as a knight approached them.

"You three." The knight barked. "I'd like to have a word with you." However he couldn't get a word out as an argument started not far from them.

"So why don't you let us through?" A male voice insisted. "I'll beat those monsters to a pulp with these fists of mine!" This commotion caused the knight to turn.

Arguing was a man whose face was covered with a cowl that had a golden insignia on it. He was wearing a dark green/grey jacket. The sleeves parted half way down the arms, on the man's hands was a pair of black fingerless gloves. that ended in sharpened fingernails that were painted purple. His lower half was covered by some black pants.

The man next to him was a large man with dark hair that framed his face and spiked up in the back. He was wearing a black jacket with orange trimming that ended a quarter way down his arms. His arms were covered in scars and nothing else. His pants were white with grey sidings. On his back was a large sword that had a ribbon tied around it.

"How many times do I have to say it?" The knight asked exasperated "These monsters are tougher than you think!"

"You dare to doubt the power of the monster hunters?" The male asked in return with an edge in his tone. The man behind him suddenly grabbed the sword on his back and held it in front of his face.

"S-stop!" The knight yelled as he pulled back his lance.

The man didn't respond as he slashed to his left, causing a tremor.

"Stay out of this!" The man with the cowl snapped. "You Knights cheated us out of a job back there, and now we're gonna work off some steam!"

"Hey, hold it!" The knight talking to Luke and them shouted.

"It's always the same with these guild idiots!" Another guard commented as he rushed up.

"Great, we'll never get through as long as this keeps up." Yuri remarked as he watched the spectacle.

"But Flynn is headed to Halure, and we're so close." Estelle argued as she turned to him.

"Getting caught would suck." Luke commented as he looked around. "I'll climb to the top and see if there are any ways around."

"Alright, we'll meet by the merchant if we find something." Yuri said as he started to walk, with Estelle following behind. Luke turned to the guards tower, but turned his head to look a Repede.

"Looks like it's just you and me again." Luke said with a smile. The dog let out a bark, as if agreeing with him. They both started to walk to the guards tower, not making any noise except for the patter of their feet.

They soon made it to their destination and Luke walked inside, giving Repede a quick "Stay" to keep him out of trouble. He climbed the stairs at the other end of the guards room and went up the ladder to his left. When he got to the top of the hold he noticed a man with long white hair staring out past the hold.

"Uhh hey." Luke started. When the man didn't reply he continued. "Whatcha lookin at?" He looked out towards the monsters still going haywire. '' Quite a sight huh, never monsters go crazy like this.

''That is because there is a great imbalance that has happened to this world.'' The man finally spoke not taking his eyes away from the monsters, he finally turned his attention to Luke. ''The actions of you and your friends were quite noble, not many people would have the courage to do what you've done.'' Luke blushed a little.

''I just did what i thought was right, don't praise me too much'' He finished a little sad remembering his past. The man seemed to have noticed this change in the red head's emotion, he could see that there was a long held guilt with in his eye's, but he also felt a strong power coming from him, something he hasn't felt before.

''It's good to see one so young with such humbleness, it's refreshing to see, my name is Duke Pantarei, i look forward to seeing you in the future.'' The now named Duke said as he turned to leave.

The names Luke, Nice meeting ya.'' Luke said. a moment later he heard yuri calling for him from outside the guard tower, he quickly made it back down to see what he wanted.

''I think we found a way around the monsters, we ended up getting some information from a woman named Kaufman apparently she's president of a merchants guild called Fortune's Market, she said we could get through the Quoi woods, it's just west of here.'' Yuri explained.

Well what are we waiting for, let's get moving, nearly getting questioned by the guard earlier, was a little too close for comfort.'' Luke said.

''Yeah i heard that, let's go.'' Yuri two walked towards the entrance to find Estelle and Repede resting by a tent.

''Estelle'' Yuri called getting the girls attention. She quickly turned away.

''I-I'm not waiting around for the monsters to leave or anything, i'm just resting a little.'' She said. both could tell she way lying.

''Oh i see, well looks like me and Luke will have to take the other way around by ourselves.'' Yuri said, as he and the redhead walked away.

Estelle looked surprised. ''What?, how did you…?, Hey wait for me!'' She said as she quickly stood and ran to catch up to the two.

**(Okay It's skit time, i'm going to try my best on this okay)**

Yuri:''That woman that gave us directions, she said she was in a guild right?''

Estelle: ''That was Ms Kaufman, of Fortune's Market.''

Luke: Kaufman huh, i haven't seen her in a good while, wish i could have seen her, after so long.''

Yuri and Estelle looked a bit shocked.

Yuri: You know her?''

Luke: Yeah, about a year ago before i showed up an Zalphias, i pretty much was broke and didn't have anywhere to go, she hired me for a job as a bodyguard for a while, working for her was a blast, she offered me a place in the guild but i had some issues to work out, so she pretty much kept in mind should we meet again.

Yuri: Would you actually think about joining a guild now?''

Luke: Maybe, it would probably be better than living in Zalphias, i visited their town were there based at, the atmosphere is pretty much like the lower quarter, but much more happier and carefree.''

Yuri: Man… Giving up their rights as imperial citizens and just... living free.''

Estelle: Yuri, are you interested in the guilds?''

Yuri: Interested?, ''Nah i just haven't had any contact with them. Back in the capital there weren't any gritty guild types that rejected the knights protection.''

Estelle: ''We may meet lots of people in guilds before we're done with our trip.''

Yuri::Hope there a little less aggressive than that woman Kaufman was.''

Luke: Ha Ha, yeah that's Kaufman for ya.''

**Skit End**

The group headed west once they exited the hold, fortunately the monsters there were pretty scarce, so things went pretty smoothly, once they got into the woods the stopped for a short moment.

''A forest in a place like this could only mean...the Quoi woods?'' Estelle asked getting a bit worried.

''Bingo, you're just full of information aren't you?'' Yuri answered. Estelle was beginning to looked a bit panicked

''I read in a book once that a curse will fall upon anyone who enters the woods.'' She said. Luke rolled his eye's.

''Ah, so that must be the surprise.'' Yuri said.

''You really shouldn't believe every single thing that you read from a book.'' Luke stated. As he and Yuri walked further into the woods, Estelle looked very reluctant. The raven haired man turned back around.

''Not going in?'' He asked. ''That's fine by me, but what about flynn?''. Estelle sighed

''I know. Let's go'' She said as she began to follow Yuri and Luke into the woods, the walk through the woods was quite amusing for the guys as Estelle was constantly talking about the curse of the woods, things such as turning into frogs and such.

'Man the things people come up with.' Luke thought. As they walked deeper into the woods, they did come across a few monsters, Estelle for some reason couldn't help but watch how Luke fought, the sword strikes were so fast that she could barely follow them, had she been less experienced in battle she probably wouldn't be able to see them at all, once they were all taken care of Luke noticed that Estelle was staring at him.

''Uh...What?'' He asked feeling a bit uncomfortable. Estelle blushed a little embarrassed.

''Sorry i didn't mean to stare, it's just that your sword style is something i've never seen before, i could barely see your strikes at all, it was amazing.'' She said. Luke rubbed the back of his head a little.

''Oh it's nothing, It's a style that's similar to an old friend of mine, i studied another sword style that's based around using the Iaijutsu style and stance, the training wasn't easy though, i have to train to increase the speed of my strikes to insane levels.'' He explained. Estelle nodded smiling.

After they finished the conversation they walked further into the woods, dealing with monsters along the way, it wasn't until they entered a clearing that Estell stopped for a second and looked around.

''Did you hear something?'' She asked feeling a bit uneasy. She ran up behind Yuri. ''My feet feel cold all of a sudden...Oh no!, is this the curse?'' She was panicking a bit.

''What sort of curse is it suppose to be anyway?'' Yuri asked curious.

''The voices of corpses beneath the trees creep up and lure us to our doom.!'' Estelle said.

''Oh brother.'' Yuri groaned as Luke simply face palmed. Estelle's suddenly caught sight of something hidden in a few bushes.

''What's that?'' She asked.

Yuri and Luke looked and found some sort of stone pillar that seemed to have collapsed, it has a gem in the center near the top, they walked to get a closer look, and found it to be a blastia.

''A Blastia?, what's it doing in a place like this?'' Yuri asked. He examined it more before he turned around.

''Let's take a break.'' He said.

''I-I'm okay.'' Estelle said as she began walking towards the path, she noticed the blastia inside the pillar.

''Huh, What's this?'' She asked as he got closer to investigate it, however the very moment she got within a inch of it, there was a bright flash.

''Ahh!'' Estelle yelled in surprise, Yuri and Luke groaned as the flash blinded them for a second, the next second they found Estelle on the ground unconscious.

''Estelle!'' both yuri and Luke yelled running to check if she was okay, thankfully she was still breathing much to their relief.

''Let's rest here until she wakes up.'' Luke suggested. Yuri nodded and picked up Estelle and carried her away from the blastia, and laid her on the ground, repede allowed positioned himself under the girl's head, so i wouldn't be too uncomfortable for her, Luke lied down by a tree and got comfortable, with Yuri sitting down next to him.

''Man, never thought i would end up going on a crazy adventure like this.'' He said. Luke chuckled.

''Yeah, but you gotta admit, this is pretty enjoyable, it feels nice to be outside of the capital for once.'' Luke said.

''Yeah it does feel kinda nice every once in awhile, i don't know why but i feel like that things might not be so easy, looking for the Aqua blastia and looking for flynn on top of that, there's a strange feeling that thing will get pretty hectic.'' Yuri said.

''Yeah, i'm getting the same vibe, we better be prepared just in case shit hit's the fan.'' Luke agreed, their conversation was interrupted when they hear Yuri's stomach growl. Luke chuckled and stood from the ground.

''I'm gonna go and see if i can find some fruit, been awhile since we've eaten.'' He said as he walked off and searched the tree's for food. Yuri stayed and relaxed for a bit, it wasn't until a few minutes that Luke returned with three pieces of fruit.

''These are the only three i could find, the animals must be getting ready for a hibernation.'' Luke said as he tossed one to Yuri, the man just shrugged and cleaned off the fruit before taking a bite, he immediately sit out the fruit in disgust.

''Ugh, Damn that's bitter.'' He said. Luke took a bit and pretty much did the same.

''Ugh.!'' What the hell are these?'' He asked. unaware that Estelle had woken up until she sat up.

''You alright?'' Yuri asked Estelle as she shook her head a little to get over the weird feeling.

''Ohh, my head feels a little...I'll be fine.'' Estelle answered. ''What happened to me?'' she asked as her head finally cleared.

''you just fell over all of a sudden, don't you remember?'' Yuri answered. Estelle thought for a second.

''Perhaps it was the aer that made me feel dizzy.'' She said.

''Aer, That's sort of like the fuel that powers the blastia right?'' Yuri asked. I heard that even though we can't see it, it's scattered through the atmosphere.''

''I heard about that, they power the blastia, but it can be harmful to humans when their directly exposed to it, especially to a strong concentration of it.

''Yes, that's aer.'' Estelle said.

''Hmmm, maybe that's what started the rumor of the curse.''Yuri said.

''Makes sense.'' Luke added. Estelle stood up from the ground and was prepared to continue.

''Hey you only just woke up, you should rest a bit more.'' Yuri said.

''But i can't!, if we don't catch up with flynn soon…'' Estelle argued.

''And what if you collapse and this time you're out for the whole night?'' Luke stated. Estelle calmed down.

''You're right, I'm sorry.'' She said. The pink haired princess walked to the two and sat between them, Yuri handed her the fruit, she looked at it for a second before she took it and took a bite, there was silence for a second, before she took a rather sour look making Luke snigger a little.

''Ugh!.'' She exclaimed in disgust.

''Heh, i suppose we'll never get full trying eating these'; Yuri said.

''It's delicious.'' Estelle said as she took another bite trying to bare the bitter taste of the fruit.

''Hold on a second, I can make something simple.'' Yuri said

''You can cook Yuri?'' Estelle asked.

''I'm not exactly a royal chef, i just have a few recipes i learned growing up.'' Yuri answered.

Yuri and Luke scoured the woods for some firewood and made a small campfire to make some food, once everything was set Yuri prepared the ingredients. Estelle decided to strike up a conversation.

Aren't you worried at all that Flynn is in danger?'' She asked.

''Huh? does it look that way?'' Yuri asked.

''well...yes.'' Estelle answered.

''Honestly i'm not worried about him, he's always managed to take care of himself.'' Yuri said. ''Actually it's the guy's who are after him who i feel sorry for.

''What do you mean?'' Estelle asked.

''Ever since we were kids, i've never been able to beat flynn at anything. Swords ,Racing, whatever, after he'd won he'd always have the nerve to say, are you alright Yuri?'' Yuri answered.

''Must be quite the fighter if he's beaten you multiple times.'' Luke added a little impressed.

''Damn right he is, me may go by the book at most time, but you should see him when he gets mad, he's like a animal when that happens, when it does you'd better steer clear.'' Yuri said with a small smirk remembering the bar brawl that happened years ago.

''That must be nice...I've never had anyone like that i'm my life.'' Estelle said as she smiled.

''You can count yourself lucky.'' Yuri said with a huff, he did dislike how Flynn taunted him when ever he lost, but he knew it was all in good humor, he knew the friend never really meant to be mean spirited. Yuri then began to make dinner for the group, he decided to make them a few simple sandwiches.

''Well dinner's ready.'' Yuri said. They ate in peaceful silence, Estelle seemed to enjoy the food.

''Thank you for the meal'' She said as she finished.

''It wasn't anything special.'' Yuri said casually.

''I thought it was very tasty, i can't imagine being able to cook anything myself.'' Estelle said.

''It's just like using a sword or magic, you've got to learn it by doing it.'' Yuri said.

''Yeah it's pretty simple, you just have to practice with a few recipes, you'll be cooking before you know it.'' Luke added. Yuri nodded.

''Luke is actually one of the best cooks down in the lower quarter.'' He said. Luke actually blushed a little getting such praise.

''Really?'' Estelle asked as she looked at the red head with awe.

''I'm pretty sure there are others better than me.'' Luke said not wanting to seem too big headed about it. Yuri scoffed.

''You kidding me, do you remember that the whole lower quarter wanted you to open a restaurant?'' He asked with a smirk, ''Most compared you to a royal chef.

''That's amazing!'' Estelle said with some excitement. ''I would love to try your cooking sometime.'' she added. Luke smiled.

''Well if it's for your royal highness then what am i to decline.'' Luke said. ''If you want i could show you the basics of cooking.'' Estelle smiled.

''I would like that.'' She said with some excitement. Luke nodded to Yuri telling the man to help out.

''Cook clears your mind, and it's great for regaining lost energy.'' Yuri explained.

''Exactly, cooking also has a lot of other effects too, i know how to cook more than a sandwich, as does Yuri, but we'll keep it simple for now, in order to make a sandwich you need bread and an egg which we already have right here, after choosing your ingredients it's time to cook, Luke began to demonstrate the method which Estelle paid very close attention to, she watched how happy and tranquil he was as he cook, it was like he truly enjoyed it.

''And there you are a delicious meal'' Luke said as he finished the making the sandwich, he gave it to Estelle and she gladly took it, taking a bit he eye's widened as she got a much more richer and better taste from Yuri's sandwich, after she finished the meal, she was speechless for a second before speaking.

''This...This is amazing!'' She said. Luke smiled happy that the girl loved his cooking.

''I'm glad you like it.'' He said.

''Why did it taste so different from Yuri's?'' The pink haired princess asked.

''It would be because of these.'' Luke said as he brought out a number of seasonings. ''These are seasonings, they're made from natural herbs and spices that give food and extra taste, the can make food spicy, or bring out more taste since not all foods have an natural flavor, this is also used to help make you our recipes with food, in order to be a real cook, you have to be creative, you have to make your own recipe.'' Luke explained.

''Most restaurants that you may come across will more than likely people who make food, using their own recipe, or a recipe that that was created from an owner, ever royal chefs do the same thing.'' Yuri added.

'''You're soo good at that, i'm not sure i' be able to get that good at cooking.'' Estelle said.

''Well cooking does come naturally to some people than others, but anyone can do it, you just have to practice, but just because you have the right recipes dosen't mean it will always turn out like you think.'' Luke explained.

''Really?, so you can mess it up?'' Estelle asked.

''Yeah, it happens a lot, but some people taste their food to make sure that doesn't happen, other don't Luke answered.

''Tasting?'' The princess asked.

''Chefs taste their food they cook in order to make sure that the food is up to their liking.'' Luke said.

''Well you're a sheltered little princess who's lived her life in a castle, it's only normal.'' Yuri said bluntly. Luke sweatdropped a little by how callous he asked while saying that.

'''Sheltered little princess...I suppose so.'' Estelle she agreed.

Repede suddenly got up and was on alert. ''What is it repede?'' Yuri asked. The dog sent the man a look telling him that he sensed something, the man understood that it was time to get moving.

''Well, shall we be going?'' He asked as he stood up from the ground, Estelle and Luke followed suit, and advanced deeper into the woods. not know that their adventure was about to get a little more interesting.

**And done, Finally i got this done, sorry again for having you wait so long, but i had to work. **

**Anyway i decided to give Lue a little bit of talent with cooking, and his goal will probably be a restaurant owner, also as you probably saw in the story, Luke came to the Capital a year after showing up in the world of Terca Lumireis, he traveled for a bit and met up with other and did a few jobs in order to get money. so he worked with Kaufman and a few other guilds to gain money to the Capital.**

**RIght now, i'm trying to think of a pairing for Luke, his old comrades will find him eventually, and he will start to forgive them gradually, including tear, however i have to have something happen in Auldrant in order for them to travel to Terca Lumireis, and i'm still trying to to figure that out, if there is any ideas that you all can give me please do so.**

**Also i'm putting up this poll here tell me your choice and opinion in the private massager.**

**Luke and Tear:**

**Luke and Rita :**

**Luke and OC Female Character **

**Please let me know of your choices and whichever has the most votes will will be put into the story.**

**Well folks, that's all for now, i hope that i can have your continued support. Until Next time, this is Ninj4Fox signing off.**

**Ja Ne!**

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